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Seems Windows 11 made updates on its Texteditor notepad.exe. The search functionality was changed (e.g. usability was improved by individual buttons for up and down search) as well as the undo functionality. But it seems that "undo" can not be reversed anymore. Up until the Windows 10 editor you could hit "undo" a second time to "redo" the undo. In Windows 11 this doesn't seem possible anymore due to the fact that it now supports multiple undos (in Win10 you could only undo your most recent change).

Am I missing something? If not, are there any other options (except for installing Notepad++ or other third-party notepad replacements - see my own answer)?

Side note: For issues regarding Notepad's search window usability (the problem that it covers the text content) please see this question. Thanks to Heinzi for the comment on this.

Side note: here's an interesting article about how the undo works in Notepad from 2013 - prior to Windows 11 which I found through this quesiton

Albin
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2 Answers2

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Notepad is now using the same shortcuts as most text editors and keeps a stack of the last changes.

To undo the last change : Ctrl+Z
To redo the last undone change : Ctrl+Y

You need to get used to using Ctrl+Y instead of a second Ctrl+Z.

harrymc
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    Thanks, then the option is just not in the menu. Strange, I thought I tried Crlt+Y... probably hit the wrong key. Good that I asked! Thanks! – Albin Mar 27 '22 at 09:50
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    Strrange indeed that it's not in the menu... that seems a very odd oversight. – David Mulder Mar 28 '22 at 07:42
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    @Albin You should try a German keyboard layout. Y and Z are swapped there. Okay, I was just kidding and made a bad joke. – Ray Mar 28 '22 at 18:20
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An alternative would be to install a 3rd party Texteditor. I will list the available options here (feel free to add by adding a comment, editing the answer or add your own answer):

Notepad++ (freeware, open source): lightweight and very powerful text editor with additional features as automatic backup, bookmarks, multiple tabs, syntax highlighting etc.

Notepad2 (freeware): another lightweight text editor with additional features.

Notepad2 (freeware): another lightweight text editor with additional features (Note: they also advertise via notepad2.com).

Note: This is not 100% what I want, but a good alternative since the undo function is in the menu (and lots of other issues get solved as well). I didn't accept this as a solution, because Harry's answer is more direct.

Albin
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    if you use a 3rd party text editor you'll still need to use Ctrl+Y to redo. Very few applications use Ctrl+Z to undo the last undo – phuclv Mar 27 '22 at 16:39
  • @phuclv But other text editors (a) may allow you to configure things closer to what you want (if not to exactly what you want) and (b) may do a better job at showing the available keystrokes/options/menu choices, etc. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Mar 27 '22 at 16:43
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    @phuclv manassehkatz-Moving2Codidact is correct, usually, you will also have the option to choose redo from the menu which is missing in notepad (which got me confused in the first place - I thought there was no Redo in Notepad, see my comment to harrymc's answer). – Albin Mar 27 '22 at 17:04
  • I have no idea why this is so controversial (3 upvotes but 6 downvotes), I myself think this is a usable answer (I know, since I use it myself). Is using alternative freeware or open software that fixes the problem completely (including the menu) such a bad answer? Please, could someone leave a comment (preferably one of the actually downvoters)? Some enlightenment would be great! – Albin Mar 29 '22 at 10:19